The Idiot
by Dramione13
Summary: DRABBLE/AU. Draco discovers Hermione in a not-to-wonderful situation. However, someone else is behind the unfortunate event.
1. Chapter 1: Over and Done With

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone. So here is a shot I wrote for my good friend on tumblr, Wirda (contra1veritas). She also made a graphic for it and I will be posting it shortly in my profile. Anyway, just posting here since some people requested me to do so. I will also be posting on H&V later. :)

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns it all. I only own this plot.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Over and Done With**

"Draco!" a voice called out as someone else Disapparated away from the flat. "Draco, wait!"

Ignoring the call of his name, he continued walking through the hallway and down a set of stairs briskly. He pushed the main door open with so much force that it caused the door to bang loudly against the wall. The neighbour's dogs began to bark hysterically.

"Please! Don't go!" Hermione cried as she grabbed his hand.

Just feeling her hand on his, he recalled with vivid clarity where that hand had been and pulled it back harshly. But to his dismay, he accidentally smacked the side of her face - _hard_. The resounding smack echoed as they stood in front of the building's entrance.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw her cup her cheek with tear-filled eyes but he quickly composed himself and sent her a cold glare.

"I'm-"

"_Don't_," she replied. "I know it was an accident."

He released a heavy breath through his nose as he focused his sight across the street. He doesn't move or make to leave again.

Neither says anything and all that they can hear is Hermione's neighbour trying to quiet his dogs again.

"It's not what it looked like," she says quietly.

"No?"

"_No_."

"So you weren't snogging the life out of Zabini just now?"

"I...yes. But I was trying to stop-"

"You're such a fucking liar! I know what I saw. You were enjoying it."

"I was not!"

"Oh no? Then were those sighs and moans I heard from my imagination?"

"Well…no, but-"

He scoffed. "Father was right about you."

"Drac-

"He always said that your kind were nothing but whores. You're just another dirty Muggle, with no morals whatsoever. Or sense of loyalty. You're nothing more than a filthy little Mudblood _slut._"

She gasped sharply, her eyes widening in hurt surprise. It felt as if he had slapped her again. Did he really just call her a slut? And a Mudblood?! It had been years since he had ever tossed her that insult with such venom.

"I feel like such a fucking idiot," he went on, ignoring her reaction. "I never should have thought that you were going to be any different."

She finally snapped out of her stupor.

"Then you really are an idiot if you believe what is blatantly _not_ true! Draco, you've known what kind of person I am for _years _and specifically this last year in our relationship. Have I once done something to prove you otherwise? No! Because I never have! And never will! _Never_!"

"Bullshit! You were about to shag one of my mates just now!"

"For Merlin's sake! I wasn't-"

"Save it. It's over."

She gaped in shock. "What?"

"Are you deaf? I said it's over."

"What-no! You can't possibly end us over this!"

"Oh yes, I can and I just did! So get the hell out of my life!"

She cried as she made her way towards him. "Draco,_ please!_ Let me explain!"

"I said save it! I don't give a fuck!"

Before she could touch him again, he Disapparated away.

She fell to her knees and bursts into tears as the cracking sound disappeared.

* * *

"It's done."

"You're certain that Draco saw you?"

He gave the man a cold smile. "He saw more than what was necessary."

"And what of their engagement?"

"Broken."

"Does he suspect any foul play?"

"Only from Granger."

With a small lift of his lips and a nod of his head in satisfaction, the man dug his hand into his cloak's pocket to retrieve a bag of galleons. He placed it on the table.

"Well done, Mr. Zabini. I trust that this will be more than enough to cover your debts."

Blaise scowled. "I wouldn't have been in debt in the first place if you hadn't frozen my accounts."

"Oh, come now. I know very well that you were just as unhappy with Draco's match as I. My son deserves better than that filth."

"Despite what I feel, it was _his_ choice."

"Pah! It doesn't matter. What's done is done. Thank you for your diligent and thorough assistance," Lucius replied while sending him a cruel smirk.

With a look of disgust, Blaise snatched the bag from the table and stormed out of the dingy pub they had met. He was very unhappy about the way he had been manipulated to interfere. Not only had he broken a relationship but he also destroyed a friendship as well.

But that guilt didn't really cover the surprise he felt. It was amazing to see how easily Draco had been swayed by what he had seen. Didn't he know Granger at all?! They had been together for over two years for him to suddenly put end to it over one night. Blaise had always considered them to be a strong couple.

Apparently, they weren't as strong as he had thought.

Because if Draco truly believed that that brief interlude was to be real, then he truly was an idiot.

* * *

_**A/N: Hope that was enjoyable! Please review :)**_


	2. Chapter 2: Blaise's Remorse

**Author's Note: **So...I got a few (many I should say) requests to continue this one-shot into a mini story, lol! So here's the second chapter. Currently working on the next addition.

This here is just a little more background on Blaise with some Ginny action and then there's some Draco in the end. Hope this satisfies until the next chapter is done. :)

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns it all. I only own this plot.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Blaise's Remorse**

With a heavy sigh, he picked up his tumbler, downed the Firewhiskey in one shot and closed his eyes. He felt the alcohol burn its way down his throat slowly but rather uncomfortably as it headed towards his stomach. But he didn't flinch or cough it back up. Instead, he welcomed and savoured the feel of it.

Because if he didn't, he would certainly go insane with guilt and remorse.

It had been two days since Blaise's unfortunate interference. And, as expected, Draco came looking for him right after the incident and proceeded to kick his arse - without the help of a wand.

He also didn't do anything to stop him but rather bait Draco to continue. _Let him take out his anger on me rather than Granger_, he thought at the time. She was an innocent bystander after all. She didn't deserve anymore of Draco's bitterness and hash words or, in that case, his thrashing.

Needless to say, he was left in a bloody bruised-up heap as Draco panted, "Stay the fuck away from me", and Apparated away.

And as the cracking sound slowly vanished, Blaise Zabini broke down like a little boy.

There went almost 21 years of friendship; down the fucking tube. And all because Lucius Malfoy couldn't bear his son marrying a Muggleborn.

True, he had never fully accepted their relationship either and was rather shocked when Draco confessed himself deeply in love with her. But that didn't mean he wanted to be the one that got in between that. Despite his reservations, Draco is (or rather was) his best friend. It really didn't matter if he had decided to marry a squib so long as he was happy. He would still be his friend and supportive about it, no matter what he thought of his choice.

He sighed once more as he waved at Tom the bartender for another shot.

But he had to admit that he was rather proud of himself, despite circumstance. He had managed to pull the whole thing off with no one the wiser. And he was pretty sure that Draco hadn't suspected that it was his father pulling the damn strings.

Oh, how ironic that the one-time Blaise is forced to manipulate a situation, he actually succeeded. Where was that skill when he would do harmless pranks on Draco many years before?

As Tom set down the new shot in front of him with a wary look, he realized that there was someone sitting with him at the bar on his left. He was actually rather surprised by that. It was Monday afternoon and the Leaky Cauldron was rather empty at that time.

He smirked when he realized who that person was.

"Well, well, if it isn't the newest addition of the Holyhead Harpies gracing me with her presence," he slurred as he tried to focus on his shot.

"Blaise," she said while she nodded at him.

"Ginerva," he said, nodding back. "So what brings you to me at this hour?"

"Who says I'm here for you?" she replied in amusement.

At her reply, he turned to give her a full smirk but quickly regretted it. Her smile quickly slid off her face and her eyes widened in horror.

"Sweet Merlin! What's happened to your face?"

"Nothing," he replied, turning away. "Just fell down some stairs head first."

She gave him an incredulous look. "What? No! That looks like someone's handy work and whoever it was intentionally bashed in your face!" she cried as she began to softly touch his cuts and bruises in assessment while he winced.

As she began to take out her wand, he placed a hand on it to stop her.

"No, don't! Leave them be."

"But…but, you must be in agony!"

"Ginerva, leave them," he repeated.

"But-"

"_No_."

She huffed in impatience. "Is this why you've been ignoring me these last couple of days?"

"Shouldn't you be at practice?" he refuted, ignoring her question.

"I was worried about you and practice was cancelled today anyway. Don't change the subject," she replied, crossing her arms. He grimaced at her reaction.

Damn, he had been hoping to avoid her for a few more days. Now, she wasn't going to let him out of her sight.

Unless she knew and was about to confront him…

No, she couldn't know. She was acting far from angry and vengeful.

"How very sweet of you," he replied instead in an aloof tone. "But your worry isn't necessary, I assure you." He picked up his drink to his lips.

This caused her to frown.

"Your face says otherwise. We're friends and…why are you drinking? It's not even noon yet," she reprimanded with a click of her tongue.

"It's five o'clock somewhere…" he muttered and downed the shot before she could say anything else.

"Did you really just quote an American Muggle country song?" she asked in a baffled tone.

He shrugged while he smirked again. "So what if I did? And it's true. Somewhere around the world, it's already an acceptable time to drink. So who gives a fuck?"

Ginny is left speechless by his behaviour. As long as she'd known him in their unlikely friendship, he was actually a collected and reserved individual. Not once had she seen him look so defeated and sad or even bruised. Or get drunk in the middle of the day. Something was definitely up.

And she was very sure that he had gotten beaten by someone. There was no way that he was clumsy enough to ruin his face that badly with a simple fall. Just how stupid did he think she was?!

She sighed softly as she swivelled her seat to face the bar as Blaise seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly.

"No," he replied as he waved at Tom again. However, instead of assisting him, Tom frowned in reply and turned his back on him.

Blaise scowled at that. Damn bartender. _Just give me my fucking drink!_ he thought in anger.

"Are you ok?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he continued to scowl at Tom who was cleaning a pint glass with much interest.

"Blaise?" she tried once more as she looked at him.

When he didn't reply again, Ginny growled in frustration, running a hand through her hair.

"You do know how friendship works, don't you?" she asked.

At her question on friendship, he fixed his glare on her and snapped, "Of course I fucking know! But I said I don't want to fucking talk about it! I didn't even ask you to come here!"

"Whoa! No need to bite my head off! What the hell is your problem?!" she yelled back, trying to control her temper as it threatens to erupt. Where the hell did that come from?

"My fucking problem is that I didn't ask you to nose into my damn business. Just because we shag and go out on occasion doesn't give you any liberties into my life and-"

He didn't get to finish his rant as a hand came down and slapped him across his face, making his cuts and bruises burn afresh. It also caused him to feel even guiltier. She didn't deserve his anger and he was completely out of line. He nearly paled when he saw her eyes glistening.

"You unfeeling arsehole," she whispered, trying to keep her tears at bay. "I was just trying to be a good person and be here for you. But I see that you are beyond reasoning like a decent human being and would rather enjoy the company of a Firewhiskey bottle. So here!" She slammed down a few galleons on the table as she got up. "Enjoy a fucking bottle on me."

As she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm in blind panic. But the quick movement caused him to lose his balance and he holds on tightly. The floor began to spin and he closed his eyes.

Oh Merlin, he hoped he didn't puke his guts out right now.

"Let go of me!" she growled, trying to shake off his hand.

"No wait!" he slurred as he opened his eyes, trying to focus on her face. "I didn't mean that."

"Your vindictive tone says otherwise. Now release me!"

"I can't," he said softly, waiting for the world to stop spinning. But that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to let go. He took a deep breath as he looked her straight in the eyes. "Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. And I was completely out of line with what I said. You're right, I'm an arsehole. You deserve better than my company and yet here you are, spending your free time with me. I thank you. So please, don't leave yet. _Please_."

Ginny glared at him for a few more seconds before she relaxed her features. With a nod of her head, he released her and she took her seat again.

However, this time she stared straight ahead and didn't bother to say anything. If he wanted her to stay, she would. But she wasn't going to make an effort to say anything else, lest he bit her head off again.

"Do you want a drink?" he asked her in peace offering.

She shrugged.

"Oi Tom!" Blaise called out.

With a sigh, Tom made his way back with a frown and crossed his arms. "Mr. Zabini, I'm sorry but you've had about ten consecutive drinks now. I can't offer you anymore with a good conscience."

Ginny's eyes bulged out of their socket at that while Blaise waved a hand in dismissal.

"It's not for me, you git. It's for her," he said as he turned back to Ginny. "So what'll it be?"

"Butterbeer, please."

"You sure you don't want anything stronger? I mean, you are here with me," he said with a lopsided grin.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm sure."

With a sigh, Tom headed back down to get her bottle.

They sat there in silence, listening to Tom uncork Ginny's drink and at a dim scrapping sound of silverware on a plate by the one other patron in the place. When the drink was finally placed in front of her, she muttered her thanks before taking a big gulp and continued to stare in front of her. She didn't even look back at him as she almost got through half of her bottle, much to Blaise's dismay.

Blaise pinched the bridge of his nose, tired of sitting in together silence. He knows it's his fault that she's not making any effort anymore. He really shouldn't have snapped at her but all that damn Firewhiskey had mucked up his speaking and reasoning skills.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he talked about it a little, without divesting too many details.

He scoffed at that. Now that was near impossible to do, especially since he was the key part in the mess.

He really didn't want to tell Ginny that he was the reason her best friend was currently so heartbroken at the moment. She would definitely kick his arse too. And possibly not speak to him ever again, which would be a shame since he had grown rather fond of the red head. He had been hoping that things would progress to something more than friends with benefits.

But now, with this incident in the mix, he wasn't so sure where that would lead for them; _if_ there was even a 'them'.

So, with a quick mutter of "_fuck it_" to himself, he turned to Ginny. No use in trying to keep it all bottled up inside anymore. She was bound to know something about it later. She may as well hear the story straight from him.

"I don't know where to begin," he said, wiping at his forehead.

When she doesn't respond, he plowed on, "Just promise me that you'll hear me out before you decide to hex me into oblivion."

She turned back in surprise but remained quiet. He closed his eyes.

"I fucked it up."

She cocked her head. "Fucked what up?"

"Something I shouldn't have," he sid with a sigh, looking at his empty tumbler forlornly.

"Oh?"

"And all for a couple of fucking galleons."

"Wha-"

"I'm actually surprised you still don't know," he cut in. "I thought for sure she would have told you something by now."

"What - who? You're not making any sense." She shook her head as she took another drink.

"Granger."

She choked on her sip, putting the bottle down and turned to face him as she tried to clear her throat.

"What about Hermione?" she rasped. "I am so…what are you talking about? I haven't talked or seen her in a week. Did something happen?"

With a sigh, he picked up her bottle and swallowed down the rest of her drink.

_Here goes nothing_, he thought to himself and began from the beginning.

* * *

"I am _not_ interested in who you have here to meet me or if she's a potential bride because she's a damn Pureblood! I'm not a bloody stallion!" he bellowed as he walked away from the study.

"Draco!" Lucius barked out after him. "How dare you speak to me that way? Come back here!"

After taking two more steps, he finally stopped and turned back with a heavy sigh. Despite Lucius telling him to come back into the room, he ended up catching up to Draco and was now in front of his face, sending him an enraged and undignified look.

Draco grimaced at that. Maybe he shouldn't have yelled at his father the way he did. He was actually lucky that he hadn't gotten smacked down by his father's cane just then.

He took a deep breath.

"Sorry, father. I just…I have already told you that I am not interested in meeting anyone right now. Why are you pushing this? I've just broken up with Hermione and-"

"_Don't_ mention that dirty Mudblood's name in my presence."

Draco's nose flared as his eyes flashed angrily at his father's reply.

"I've asked you repeatedly not to call her that," he said bitterly.

"Fine. Don't mention that unfaithful Muggleborn slut. Satisfied?"

Draco bit his lips, in an effort to keep in his temper. Despite what had happened between them, he didn't appreciate his father's disrespectful name calling; smug name calling, more like.

Huh.

Now that he thought about it, he was actually shocked when his father reacted pleased than surprised when he told him the news. It was almost as if Lucius was expecting him to tell him. But no, that was impossible. His father couldn't have known. Better yet, he couldn't have intervened.

It had been Blaise. He was the one that ruined everything; the one that had mangled and destroyed his one piece of heaven.

He always suspected that that bastard was jealous and had a thing for her. He had always flirted with Hermione despite saying he disliked her. And then there was the way she would respond to his attentions, blushing red before she glared back at him.

Of course they had been up to something. He had just been too stupid to see it.

Idiot.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and turned back to glare at his father.

"No matter what she's done, don't call her that again," he quipped.

His father chuckled and said, "Or else, what?"

Draco locked his jaw in response. He refused to be baited into responding rashly again. It wasn't worth aggravating his father and having him insult her further.

Only he was allowed to be insulting. She had cheated on him, not his father.

When he continued in his silence, his father gave him a cruel smirk.

"I thought so," Lucius said smugly. "Anyway, as I was saying before you decided to throw your tantrum and walk away, I have a promising young lady waiting to meet you in the drawing room. I'm sure you will recognize her as soon as you see her."

Draco looked away from his father, glowering at the wall. Why couldn't his father just let him be? It had only been two fucking days since he broke his engagement!

If only his mother were still alive. She would have been the one putting his father in his place over this matter. She would also have sided with Draco and, more importantly, forced his father to _let him be_.

"All I ask is that you meet the poor girl," his father said in an exasperated tone.

After releasing another deep sigh and rubbing a hand over his face, he grounded out, "Fine."

"You will see that she's very amiable, has pretty manners and decent skills. I trust you will be content with her."

Draco gave his father a black look.

"I said I will meet her, not _marry_ her. And furthermore, after this-this _thing_ is over, that's it. I don't want to know that you've gone ahead and booked another meeting without my knowledge. Or ambush me into meeting her again."

"_Fine_. And must you be so dramatic? Really, you make it sound like I'm pulling your teeth out. All I'm trying to do is look out for your best interest and get you over that Mu-Muggleborn girl."

He snapped at this. "I've just broken up with her! Why can't you understand that?! Those were three years of my life invested and gone within a single night!"

His father waved a hand dismissively, deciding to ignore that outburst. "She doesn't count. Consider that time as a lesson learned."

"Father," he said in a warning tone.

"All I'm saying as that you have better options and it's time that you looked into them. And, if you do this for me, I promise I will not interfere in the future. Just…give her a chance son. You won't regret it. Go in there, meet her, exchange some pleasantries and then go off and wallow some more for the rest of the evening for all I care. Just don't stand her up and make her a fool!"

With a low growl, Draco straightened his robes and hair before walking with determined steps towards the drawing room.

"Let's get this over with," he called out over his shoulder in an icy tone.

* * *

_**A/N: Alright, here's the second chapter as promised! Hope this gives you some insight on other relationships and on Blaise's remorse. I'm thinking that I will be adding two more chapters. If not, then maybe just one more. It just depends on what else I can come up with. This wasn't a story I actually planned to write so I don't have a rough draft format and stuff. It was intended to stay as a one-shot. XD **_

_**Anyway, let me know what you think! :)**_


	3. Chapter 3: The Puppet Master

**Author's Note: **So...I know. I suck. This was a very long delay but I have reasons! Please read my other A/N at the end of the chapter for them (if you want). Either way, I do apologize for the tardiness and if the update seemed rather short. I just didn't want another week to go by without a new post. :/

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling owns it all. I only own this plot.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Puppet Master**

Two years.

Two months.

Twenty-five days.

Seven hours and forty-five minutes.

That's how long their relationship had been before its unfortunate end.

And now, here she was: a week later, in her sweats, eating a tub of ice cream while watching a mindless soap opera.

She knew that she shouldn't be this way, but she couldn't help it. Besides, she had a lot of sick leave accumulated. This was a great opportunity to start using those hours. She really didn't want to face the public or, even more embarrassing, her friends.

She can see it now, though. The scandal of their break up splashed all over the news. Rita Skeeter was probably basking in unmitigated glee over it. She probably even titled it, _"Trouble in Paradise. Hermione Granger to Blame."_

Ugh, how she hates that stupid cow. That Skeeter woman always had it out for her. She was constantly trying to make her look bad in the Wizarding world by any means necessary.

Well now, this should be more than enough to humiliate Hermione's reputation beyond salvaging.

_Congratulations, Skeeter. You just got your wish_, she thought bitterly.

She shuddered out a sigh as she scooped up another spoonful of rocky road. Quickly, before a new bout of tears could pour out, she stuffed it in her mouth.

What bothered her most about the whole thing was the way that Draco had reacted to it all. Sure, she had been caught in the most unpleasant albeit somewhat scandalous situation. But couldn't he have given her a chance to explain herself? Did their relationship and love mean nothing? Or their trust?

It was a major shock when, many days later, she discovered that he had readjusted his wards at his flat. When she tried to send him an owl, he confounded the poor creature and couldn't send him a message. He even went as far as blocking the Floo. She couldn't stalk him at the Ministry either, since he seemed to take another way out of the building. It was as if she were a leper or a vacuum salesperson. Even Theo, who had always been so cordial, was being very skittish and unwilling to work as her messenger.

She honestly didn't know what else could be done. She had tried many different ways to contact him, all that resulted in failure. She had at least expected him to come back and yell at her some more, that way she would have a chance to get a word in.

But no, nothing.

Instead, he seemed to have moved on rather quickly. From what she had seen and heard from gossip, he was currently staying at the Manor with his widowed father. Why he was there, she honestly did not know. Draco had said more than once that he would never return to the manor, lest his father was on his deathbed. He had told her once that after his mother's death, the house held too many painful memories. Almost everything about it reminded him of her; the kindness, the love, the helplessness of her fate. So he had left and never looked back.

Not to mention, his father was very insufferable. Especially when he discovered of their relationship from the _Prophet _and had always threatened to cut off Draco's inheritance or tell them in a mocking tone that it wouldn't last.

Well, how right he was it seems…

And then there was Blaise, that damn arsehole prat that had ruined it all. One minute she had been busy chopping potatoes for dinner and the next she was kissing him as if her life depended on it. She wasn't even attracted to him to begin with!

Well, that was a bit of a lie. She had thought that he was good-looking since her Hogwarts days but considered him too much of a flirt to take seriously. So when they had been introduced, she had been wary of his presence.

It wasn't, however, because he made her nervous. He didn't. But rather because she always got the impression that, despite him being amiable and pleasant in public, he actually disliked her due to her blood and background. He only seemed to put up with her for Draco's sake. So she in turn put up with him since he was Draco's best mate.

But now, with this damn disaster he created and left in the wake of it all, she couldn't help but feel anger and despise him.

He knew that Hermione and Draco were completely invested in one another. So why had he stepped in to destroy that? And how had he managed to get away with it all and get Draco to avoid her? How had he manipulated that outcome? True, what she had done was unforgivable. But it had been against her will. Not to mention, she wasn't alone in this mess. Blaise was the reason for the betrayal!

And she could actually prove that.

After the incident, she had gone to St. Mungo's when she began to experience an uncomfortable tick in her neck within an hour. She would have dealt with it at home but by then tick had become unbearable. So she went.

Once she had routine testing done, it was discovered that she had traces of a Confundus spell in addition to tracking a potion in her bloodstream that had caused temporary memory loss. According to the healer, it was a miracle that the side-effect hadn't been worse that it was. It was never recommended to combine spells with potions.

And so, without having to work that hard at putting two and two together, she finally knew how she had ended up locking lips with Blaise.

She had never felt so angry about anything in her life until that night.

Once she had been released from St. Mungo's, she had gone directly to his flat to confront the bastard. Of course, the git hadn't been home. So she tried again later that week.

But to her dismay, he too seemed to have a talent in evading her - a fact that irritated her to no end. She had lost count on how many times she had placed a tracking spell on him, waited outside of his home, even tried to stalk him at his family's business but with no luck in either endeavour.

Regardless, she will not give up. Just like she had done with Draco, she will keep tracking him until he finally did slip. And he will have to listen to her, one way or the other though; in this case, he will be getting more than just an earful from her with the help of her trusty wand.

Because she just didn't understand. Why had he caused her this heartache? Why retaliate now? And, more importantly, why was he hiding from it all? Since when did Blaise Zabini ever hide about anything? He was usually one to confront things head on, no matter how unpleasant things seemed.

_No matter_, she thought. _All in due time_.

Meanwhile, she will continue to enjoy her ice cream, the soap on the telly and her time off.

If anyone had ever earned a reprieve, it was her.

* * *

Lucius couldn't help the edges of his mouth that were creeping up on his face as he walked down the manor hall to Draco's room.

Everything was working out according to plan.

First, he had been able to manipulate Blaise to do his bidding which had succeeded in his initial goal to break his son's engagement. Secondly, he had also succeeded in manipulating his son to return to him. That second task had proved a bit difficult since his son was very determined to be independent. Thank goodness he was very well versed in Potion-making.

True, his son was in his mid-twenties now and entitled to do as he wished. But he was the Malfoy heir and he needed to act as such. Therefore, in order to ensure full cooperation, he slipped a little concoction of his making into one of the teas when he visited his son. After about thirty minutes in, it made Draco more agreeable to his suggestions. More specifically, his off-handed suggestion that his son should go visit the Mud blood - while Zabini was there.

Of course, his son still acted just as stubborn as always. But in the end, he caved under the potion's influence. It was such a great treat to finally have full reins of his son's actions once more, as long as he remembered to administer the dose every six hours. And it was moments like these that made him glad that Narcissa was no longer around. Or else, she would succeed in making him feel guilty about this current endeavour.

He just wondered why he didn't think about this idea sooner.

It was a close call; that much was certain. His son had almost single-handedly ruined any chance for an alliance with the Greengrass family. He had known for a certain amount of years that the youngest daughter fancied herself in love with his son. What better opportunity to press for an engagement than now? The Grengrasses were currently very influential in the social elite sphere and he knew that once they were connected by such ties, the influence will help Lucius gain his foot in the door again. Not to mention, regain him his political platform.

After all these years, he still had not managed to have any sort of power. Thanks to the madman he had devoted his service; the only thing he was able to salvage was his family name. But that wasn't really worth a Knut. Not without influence.

And despite the Granger girl being a war heroine and a close friend of that insufferable Harry Potter, he did not want his progeny to be tainted or to be a half-blood. For shame.

The Malfoys had been pure for over two hundred years. There was no way that one bout of misplaced infatuation was going to drag them all down. In his mind, and despite the years of war, purebloods simply belonged with purebloods and he'd be damned if he allowed a Mud blood chit pollute his bloodline.

So when Draco had announced his intention to marry that _thing_, Lucius decided he'd had enough.

And so, here it came full circle. His son was free once more, the Greengrass girl was waiting in their drawing room and his son was going to _obey_. He will make sure of it until a ring sits on the girl's finger.

He smirked as he reached Draco's door and rapped it crisply.

It definitely felt like fate had finally decided to grace him. If he had not been at Gringotts when Blaise Zabini had placed that certain inquiry on his assets and fortune, he wouldn't have been able to spring his plan into action. Or have had the paramount success he was currently basking in.

If only he could congratulate himself handsomely.

_But you will_, he thought to himself with unsuppressed glee as Draco opened his door. _And soon_.

"What do you want, father?"

* * *

_**A/N:**__**Again, I do apologize for the long delay on this update. Many different things have been happening in my life, it's actually amazing I am still sane. xD But anyway, long story short, I got promoted at work. So that means that I am currently working my new position and my old job and it's been pretty crazy. But thankfully, this week my boss and I have been interviewing people so they can take over my position. I am hoping that after next week, we will make a decision and then I get the opportunity to train this new person to be "me", heh. So yeah, that's one of the things causing the delay.**_

_**The other is my grandfather. As of last week, he injured himself and after his hospital release he hasn't been quite the same. Sadly, the change is not all good. He is no longer able to live on his own and his mindset has pretty much reverted to a toddlers. :/ It's kind of sad and I am bumming out but you know, things happen and sometimes things just go a certain way whether you want them to or not. **_

_**Nevertheless, I know that these may sound like excuses and for that I am sorry. I truly am trying to balance out this new work promotion and my family. I should also state that I am not going to make any promises that I will be updating soon. I'll try my best but please, I beg you, please understand. I am currently under a lot of strain/stress. **_

_**I do, however, thank you for your patience and for your reviews! They were all quite lovely and much appreciated. I had no idea that this mini-story was going to get so many followers and likes! You guys rock. :D**_

_**Anywho, I hope this new chapter satisfies until I get to working on the next one. I am more than likely going to extend it into two more chapters and then that's it. I really need to focus my attention on my other WIPs which I have also been neglecting far too much (bleh). **_

_**Hope you all are doing well :)**_


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